Clean, easy to spread, works great at keeping berries above the soil, but also allows plant runners to get through to the soil. One bag covers almost 8’ x 16’.

Yes, it may be "longleaf" pinestraw. But "Cleaner"??? Than what? Loaded with HUGE pinecones and a sizeable quantity of misc. debris. "Premium"?? I expected the product to suffer some damage from being so compressed in its packaging. But there was SO MUCH pineneedle DUST and CRUMBS. That dust should last about a month as groundcover, then disappear into the garden soil. A large percentage of the remaining needles were so broken that they will last maybe half their normal expected lifespan as groundcover before they , too, disintegrate. I am very, very familiar with purchasing and spreading baled longleaf pinestraw. Some minor debris is to be expected, but the remaining product should be fresh and springy, making a dense yet airy soil cover. Here in central NJ, when I put down a generous fresh layer of pinestraw, it remains whole and springy, insulating my garden soil and plants, and keeping out weeds for TWO whole summers. Meaning I only need to reapply every other year. This Pennington product (partly crushed needles, partly a mat of dust) will barely protect my soil and plants for this one season. Then next year I'll need to re-do it. Besides the fact that the dust-mat areas look horrible. Glad I didn't buy more than 2 of these packages of "Premium" "Cleaner" pinestraw. Because they most certainly are NEITHER!!!